A big part of the Sundance experience has nothing to do with seeing movies. While many hours are spent here in dark rooms watching projected images on a screen, even more time is logged waiting in line to see a film. Or waiting for a chance to see a film. 

Although it is possible to buy tickets in advance, many movies sell out quickly, leaving the “Wait List” line as your alternative. It’s a similar concept to casting your fate to the “Standby” list at an airport. In either case, you are counting on the odds that there will be a few seats available before your flight or movie starts. Sundance veterans tell me that in years past you could arrive an hour before show time and have a pretty good chance of snagging a seat. These days, the Wait List can take as long as two or three hours. One guy told me he once waited six hours.

So, what do you do for three hours in a line? Some sit on the floor and read books, but many others use it as an opportunity to socialize. People swap stories about films they’ve seen. “Buzz” about hot movies is often generated in these lines. Sometimes extra tickets to other films are bartered. Some purists claim that tickets are never scalped, because that would be a violation of unwritten Sundance etiquette. But, quite frankly, I’ve seen several instances where ten-dollar tickets are sold in the parking lot for twenty.

There’s also a bit of buzz in the Wait List lines about close encounters with celebrities - a Gwyneth Paltrow sighting here, Dave Matthews over there. What’s struck me is the extent to which celebrity evaporates in many cases. You may be sitting in an audience next to internationally acclaimed German director Wim Wenders. “Hairspray” director John Waters might be waiting in a theater lobby with you before the auditorium doors open. Being a movie fan is a great leveler.  Everybody’s the same when the houselights dim and the screen lights up.

But, not everyone who lives in this tiny Utah mountain town is in love with these film lovers. This year, the Sundance Film Festival is swelling the population of Park City from 7,800 to about 45,000. And while that makes for a hefty boost to the local economy, it also pushes the city’s infrastructure to the max. Between the hulking Escalades and Hummers cruising Main Street, and the more modest VW sedans shuttling Film Festival dignitaries, area roadways are overloaded. Jill who manages a downtown hotel says many local residents simply leave town for two weeks during the Festival, while real estate agent Patrick says the Sundance cash infusion is worth the traffic headaches.